Just watched a lovely piece in a Creativebug class on fabric design. Was it Heather Ross or Lizzy House who said, if she'd planted an orchard 20 years ago, how fruitful and beautiful would it be today? The takeaway message...begin it today. Some small step...some tiny seed planted today will still be a tiny seedling in a week, but in twenty years time... watch out!

Each day's task seems so small and fruitless in my grand plan to make a living out of my own creativity. I do realise that working as Woolies would bring in a faster income. Met the lovely Monalisa ( yes, her real name) who is working the checkout at Woolies. She once had her own Thai restaurant (Elephant Jump - what a name!) but sold it. I'm sure it's a lot easier for her to pay the bills working at Woolies, but the glint in your eye definitely is fading.

So we soldier on. Today I'm uploading a video to you-tube on how to apply snaps. Small stuff but it's a start. It's a seed...

Thoroughly exhaustimicated at the end of term. I promise you I worked harder for this quaint little TAFE course, than I ever did to earn a degree! To finish the course we have a College Parade, which is a bit like a graduation ceremony, but with more chandeliers and bling. Although I was thinking "Don't trip!" and "Stand that collar up!" and the like, it's still quite satisfying to see your garments being tromped down the catwalk by a bunch of Amazonian women.

Sorry I don't have photos from the parade, but here's the outfits I made on some of our lovely students. Thanks to Lynette Rees for the great shots.StasiIvyAnn

For more clarity, these can also be translated into a technical drawing on a computer drawing program.Technical drawing in Adobe Illustrator

Patterns are drawn up by hand and a toile or test garment pieced together. At college, we have rolls and rolls of fabric oddments to cobble toiles together. At home, I like to pick up cheap fabric from op shops for testing patterns. It can be a bit of an eyesore, but it's great for trialling. Here's a snap taken in our college studio...

Test garment made of scrap fabrics!

Love collecting fabric swatches from stores until I make my mind up!But you can relax, the final garment will be made in lovely ice-cream coloured silks and organzas. Can't wait!

Ever wondered why "all-look-same" when you go shopping for clothes? Blame it on the trend forecasters! At college, we use a French company called Promostyl who for an exhorbitant fee will send you a big folder full of the next big things. They boil down a fashion season into a dozen concepts and even provide colour palettes so that textile manufacturers can start producing fabrics in the "it" colours for Summer 2013.

Here's my mood board from which I'll draw up some design developments, draft patterns, make toiles and sew up a collection. All by June. Wish me luck!